ETD Collection

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https://wiredspace.wits.ac.za/handle/10539/104

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Browsing ETD Collection by Department "Department of Anthropology"

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
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    “Getting it off my chest”: exploring the lived experiences of breast cancer diagnosis and treatment in women of reproductive age
    (2021) De Weerdt, Miranda
    It is not easy being diagnosed and treated for breast cancer, as a diagnosis of breast cancer can cut to the very core of what it means to be a woman. In this study, I focused on the experiences of women of reproductive age who had been diagnosed and treated with breast cancer. After conducting interviews with 14 participants – including biomedical practitioners, members of various support-groups involved in guiding women through their journey, and women two to three years post breast cancer treatment – I was able to gain a better understanding of what Audrey Lorde meant by her expression ‘breast cancer warrior’. Common themes of these women’s interviews draws attention to delays in initial diagnosis premised on the age of the participants, the result of misconceptions, and perceptions of breast cancer in South Africa. Women’s journeys included diagnosis, treatment, adjuvant therapy, and how their experiences of these affected their lifestyles and their understanding of future life trajectories. To the extent that society places significant importance on outward appearance, women’s loss of identity due to alopecia and/or mastectomy, or their sense of narrative disruption, was significant in the overall experience. I also consider the role of various support systems in helping women come to terms with their new identity as survivors
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    Wellbeing in Mamelodi: community engagement, social support and mental health in Kasi (township) South Africa
    (2021) Malope, Seemela Desiree
    Although a vital part of wellbeing, poor mental health and mental illnesses in low-income areas are not treated the same way as other illnesses. Unlike acute illnesses that are usually responded to with urgency, mood disorders and other mental illnesses generally do not include physical symptoms, and they are therefore more likely to be ignored, disregarded or dismissed. How people understand and respond to mental health crises are influenced by whether or not they are also encountering major difficulties within the family and/or community, or threats to the family and/or community, due to deficient resources such as healthcare, low income, and lack of knowledge on mental health. In addition, considerable stigma is still attached to mental illnesses, often reflecting people’s lack of knowledge but also their discomfort with people who are emotionally labile, incoherent or confused. This makes addressing mental health issues particularly challenging. This study is located in a poor urban area which I refer to as Kasi. Focusing on one community organisation, I look at the role of community engagement in supporting individual wellbeing and addressing mental health in Kasi. Data were collected through focus group discussions and in-depth interviews with people belonging to a contemporary community group, with both focus groups and interviews hosted via WhatsApp over a period of three months. The data gathered through these methods indicated the benefits and advantages of belonging to and participating in community organisations; participants recalled personal experiences of belonging to the group, elaborating on how wellbeing is defined, and explained how mental health and mental illnesses are perceived in Kasi. The findings in this study suggest the need for further research to examine and analyse notions about mental health which make it difficult for individuals, families and health professionals to address mental health issues in low-income settings. The findings also suggest the value of looking further into the power of community engagement in enhancing wellbeing within marginalised groups
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    What a time to be birthing!’: exploring childbearing experiences of black middle-class mothers in Johannesburg, South Africa
    (2021) Majombozi, Ziyanda
    This ethnography is based on over a year of fieldwork with Black middle-class mothers in Johannesburg, South Africa (2017-2018). Employing ethnographic methodological techniques - including participant observation, interviews and digital ethnography, this thesis explores mothering experiences of Black middle-class mothers. Middle class black mothers are a unique group in South African Anthropology, one that is under-researched and whose stories of motherhood remain largely under explored. Using the South African 2015/2016 Fees Must Fall/Rhodes Must Fall student protests as well as the American Black Lives Matter movement as a backdrop, I explore the ways in which motherhood is shaped by the context it happens in, particularly in terms of race and politics of representation. I argue that political events, particularly the student protests and Black lives matter movements set in motion a space where the mothers who were my interlocutors formed a political and social consciousness that saw them seeking ways to affirm and instil a Black pride in their children. Thus, in this thesis, I show how themes of race, Blackness, Black pride and representation fold into the everyday practice of mothering for Black middle-class mothers in Johannesburg, South Africa.
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    Where have the midwives gone?: everyday histories of Voetvroue in Johannesburg
    (2021) Botes, Tamia
    At the heart of a complex network of knowledge sits the Voetvrou—a black autonomous midwife who looks after the health of and nurtures new life in her community. She mentors others in these practices and in this way, shares her knowledge across communal lines. But who is the Voetvrou? What is her history? What constitutes being a Voetvrou? How does one come to be a Voetvrou? Harriet Deacon (1998) identifies a broad shift in power relations between medical men and black autonomous midwives in the nineteenth-century Cape Frontier. These relations were underpinned by growing racialism at legal and institutionalised levels, and effectively squeezed black women out of the practice of midwifery—hence their apparent disappearance from public archives from 1865, onwards. However, these black autonomous midwives have not disappeared. This research asks, where have the midwives gone? To this end, I used semi-structured in-depth interviews and archival research to explore where the midwives have gone. I conclude that these women have been part of a living archive, continuing their practices in the margins of power. They are essential to networks of care in Eldorado Park. The Voetvrou escapes the discourses of medical anthropology and Indigenous Knowledge systems. My research attempts to re-insert her into these discourses.